


Waxing Poetics

by decafwriting



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, I stg, Lesbians!, basically two lesbians doing what lesbians do best, i got annoyed at the obliviousness just writing it, oh!, theres poetry, which is being oblivious
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-03-06
Packaged: 2019-10-15 12:57:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17529149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/decafwriting/pseuds/decafwriting
Summary: Amelia is 17 and currently dying inside. Not only is she juggling school, running at Worldly books and food with her mom, and writing for her poetry blog (Waxing Poetics), she falling. Hard. For a girl that likes someone elseBrynn is also 18. She has three constants in her life. School, Worldly, where she studies, and Waxing Poetics, a blog that writes poetry that makes her feel things she never thought she would. She finds herself doing the worst thing imaginable. Falling for a poet that she doesn’t know (For now.)Falling in love is hard enough but falling for the unattainable is worse. Hopefully, they can figure out their attraction for each other before Amelia’s mother rips her hair out.Tl:dr - It’s about two oblivious gay girls being adorably oblivious.





	1. As she walks into the shop,

**Author's Note:**

> this book is literally just a better version of me that gets the girl, tbh. I'll update this one more regularly since it's like... you know... actually done...
> 
> ANYways, enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Amelia is a panicked gay who runs into things and writes some poems about a pretty girl

Amelia was woken to the sound of soft chimes slowly rising in volume. She had the sudden urge to murder. Rolling over and grabbing at the source of the noise, she groaned. Successfully grabbing the phone and throwing it, (Gently. That phone was expensive.) Amelia pulled a pillow over her face.

Her phone went off again. Rolling off the bed with a yelp, she reached for her phone, regretting throwing it so far away. (Honestly. She understood that her room was small but this is too far) Turning on the device, she blinked while her eyes got adjusted to the bright light. It was still dark out so it took a bit to stop squinting at the screen.

 _5:00. This is what my life has come to. It’s winter break and I’m awake at 5:00._ Sighing, she turned on her music and started getting ready.

And promptly tripped. Swearing under her breath, Amelia grabbed her phone. She turned on the flashlight (a handy addition.) and carefully made her way over to the light switch. Dragging her hands over her face, she did a once over of her room. It was a mess.

 Her room was just small enough that it was hard to store things and keep it organized. There were clothes all over the floor and her bed was full of random papers, pens, and notebooks. Everything was messy and disorganised. _Just like my life_ , she thought bitterly, throwing on some clothes that _looked_ clean. 

Throwing a couple things into her mini backpack, she made her way downstairs to start making breakfast. She heard some rustling coming from the living room. Her mom had gotten another shipment of books and was currently figuring out which ones they were going to borrow for a bit before selling.

Much like her room, the house was a mess. Not dirty or gross. Just packed. Books overflowed their shelves and papers and post-its were on every surface. Shuffling into the kitchen, Amelia pulled out some frozen crepes she had made at the cafe the other day that hadn’t been bought.

Putting them in the microwave, she opened the cabinet and pulled out some plates. The microwave beeped and she split the stack in half. She opened the fridge and grabbed some strawberries and Nutella. Once everything was set on the table, Amelia called for her mom.

“Breakfast is on the table.” Her mother, Cecilia bounced into the kitchen with three books in hand. Her curly blonde hair was thrown into a messy bun and there were *at least* five pencils sticking out of it in typical Cecilia fashion. Plopping down at the table, she grinned and spread a healthy amount of Nutella on her first crepe.

“So I found three books for us to hold on to.” Amelia nodded while she grabbed some strawberries from the bowl. Her mom took this as a sign to continue

“I found a cooking book from around the world. I have a lot of cafe type things and I thought that you might want to try some stuff from it.” Amelia nodded again and pulled some post-its from the counter as well as a pen from her mother’s hair. Shoving a crepe in her mouth, she scribbled down a reminder. She stuck it to the book her mom handed her and shoved it in her bag. As she did, Cecilia started on the second book.

“This one’s a poetry book. I figured you could use it for some inspiration.” Amelia perked up a bit. Always on the hunt for good poets, she loved checking out new poetry and comparing styles. She grabbed that book too and put it in her back. Stifling back a yawn, she shoved another crepe in her mouth. Her mom squinted at her.

“You stayed up late again didn’t you?”

“Whaaattt? Nooooooo. Maybe…. Yes.”  Amelia dropped her head as her mom chuckled.

“Don’t worry about it, darling. We had a full moon. I get it. Did you write any more poetry for the blog?” Amelia blushed and nodded her head. Her mom smiled knowingly.

“Did you write it about someone in particular?” Amelia nodded, knowing there was no point in denying it. Her mom could read her too well.

“Well? Read it! I want to hear it before you post it.” She smiled as Amelia dug through her bag for her notebook.

“I wanted to see how I could describe her eyes because people never describe brown eyes prettily.” Her mom chuckled a bit and waved her hand.

“Read it while I pack up and then we’ll head to the shop.” Cecilia rolled her neck and got up as Amelia started reading it.

“I got to look into her eyes today

They were brown

Like the heavens had taken the stormy sky grey

And mixed it with the beautiful dark oak

And had decided to bless one person with the color

Thank god it was her

I could stare at them all day.”

Cecilia looked up and smiled. Her daughter looked caught up in her memory.

“That’s a beautiful description. You know she’ll find the blog at some point, right?” Amelia dropped her bag and blushed fiercely. _Fuck. SHit. NOOOOO what if she figures it out? What if she confronts me? I can’t deal with the bull…_

As if reading her mind, Cecilia interrupted her rambling. Chuckling and shaking her head, she comforted her daughter.

“Don’t worry about it. She’s as dense as you are. Now come help me take these boxes to the car.” Amelia nodded, a relieved look crossing her face. She walked over and then paused.

“Wait what do you mean as dense as me?” Cecilia just laughed and walked out with a box.

“Mom!!! You can’t just say that and leave me!!”

 

Once the boxes were loaded up, both women got into the car. Amelia huffed at her mom but couldn’t do much else. Cecilia rolled her eyes.

“Don’t worry. I won’t say anything. Plus the sooner we get to the shop, the sooner you can stare into her eyes.”

“MOM JESUS”

~~~

Other than that, the drive to the café was relatively silent. They pulled up at about 5:45 which was just enough time for Amelia to pull out and defrost the dough she’d made the night before. In her head, she did a mental schedule for the day.

_6:30 - cookies are done_

_7:30 - croissants are done, defrost rest of food_

_8:00 - set up display case_

_8:30 - morning rush_

_9:00 - Brynn…. (Not important!)_

_8:30 - 7:00 - work. Check out recipe book. All that good stuff._

She nodded to herself as she plopped the cookie dough onto the tray and put the batch in the oven and set to work making the croissants, thanking god that she’d made enough over the weekend to last the weekend. _Croissants are a bitch to make._ She thought as she stuffed the chocolate into the middle of the triangles before rolling them up and placing them on a pan. Pan went into the oven as she moved onto her favorite part. Setting up the display case.

Checking that all the frozen pastries were being defrosted, she wiped down the case and set up the food labels. Making sure that the cafe looked nice and there was just the food to set up, Amelia walking over to where her mom was unpacking the new books.

 

Her mom had always wanted to open up a bookstore cafe and was delighted that her daughter had taken an interest in food. Cecilia saved up for almost ten years and her business, worldly books, and food, had been up and running for about six years now. It was quickly becoming a favorite of the small college town, students coming in to study, and workers coming in for a break. The shop had always been cozy and inviting and the two women enjoyed their work more than anything.

There was no such thing as a new book in their shop. Everything was the second hand which made it cheaper for the customers, but also made it feel more at home. The shop was covered in books and a comfy chair. The winding bookshelves made it feel like a maze that you wouldn’t mind getting lost in. It was a store right out of a fairy tale and Amelia loved everything about it.

She smiled as she saw her mother curled up with a book. She was so engrossed in it, an earthquake could strike and she wouldn’t notice it. Perfect.

Sneaking up behind her, Amelia leaned over and calmly asked

“Whatcha reading there?” her mother screamed.

“What the hell!? Where did you come from?” Cecilia pointed an accusing finger at the now bent over Amelia who was laughing so much her sides hurt.

“The shops gonna open in like 15 minutes! You have to get to work.” She stated between giggles.

“Oh shit, you’re right,” Amelia smirked.

“Damn straight.” Her mother smacked her arm and shooed her back to the kitchen where Amelia started to set up the display case with all the fresh, warm food.

Putting the last croissant in, she hears the door unlock and smiles as her mom walks over to the counter. Smiling, she hands her a cup of coffee and one of the two treats on the plate.

“Try this. I attempted some baklava last night in the lull.” Cecilia hummed appreciatively as she bit down, moaning as the flavor burst in her mouth.

“This….. This is heaven.” Amelia giggled as her mom wandered away, slowly sipping her coffee cup, in wait to help the first customer. She didn’t have to wait long because the bell rung at exactly 8:35 as the first person of the day walked into the shop. And thus began their day.

 

The first rush of about 20 people came in on their way to work. Amelia grinned as she made the coffee and served the pastries, serving the occasional person who had time to sit with a book and eat that morning. Her mother, as lovely as ever, had suggested a book to anyone who had asked. Amelia swore her mom was magical. She always seemed to know exactly what a person wanted to read and could somehow pull said book out of nowhere. This trick had never failed and today was no exception.

At 9 o’clock on the dot, the bells chimed and Amelia’s head shot up. A couple of old ladies, who came in early and left around 12 every day, chuckled a bit. This was a common occurrence in the bookstore but that didn’t stop her from blushing.

Brynn walked through the door with a smile on her face. As she walked to the counter, Amelia wondered how well she could describe her in poetry.

_A messy bun_

_A smiling face_

_Dark oak eyes_

_All have me dazed….._

_Nah. Doesn’t sound right._

She snapped herself out of it as Brynn walked up to the counter. Standing at 6 feet tall, she was a good eight inches taller than Amelia. Her curly hair was tied up more than not and it looked as black and silky as a raven. She had freckles and eyes that looked like stormy clouds mixed with redwood bark.

“Hey! Could I get my usual?” Amelia pinched herself underneath the counter and smiled wildly.

“Of course! Anything else? I made some Baklava last night. It’s really sweet.”

_STOP RAMBLING YOU IDIOT._

But Brynn only smirked. Amelia was suddenly nervous. Brynn flirted a lot. With everyone. And Amelia was no exception. While she may have figured out the cues to warn her of a sudden flirtatious comment, her face still flushed like it was cold outside and she’d been standing out there for hours.

“I’ll take one then.” Amelia held her breath as she bent over to grab one out of the case for her. “But I bet it’s not as sweet as you.”

Amelia bumped her head in surprise. There it is.

_God Dammit!!! I saw all the signs too!_

Brynn giggled as she leaned over to make sure Amelia was okay. Amelia rubbed her head as she tried to cool down her face. The old ladies chortled a bit and started to laugh more as Amelia sent them a glare with no anger behind it.

“Are you okay?” Amelia looked over at Brynn who was still smiling and holding out money. She smiled, still blushing.

“Yeah! No worries. Happens all the time” Brynn sent her a soft smile as she put the change in the tip jar and headed over to the bookstore to say hi to Cecilia.

Amelia sat down with a sigh, still rubbing the red out of her cheeks, and decided to post the poem she’d written last night onto her blog, Waxing Poetics.

 

Waxing Poetics was a blog she’d started about two years back for all the poetry she’d written. Her mom had encouraged her to do so after reading a notebook full of scattered poems and finding about fifty poem-filled post-its all over her room. So that's what Amelia did. All of her poetry in one place. It was only supposed to be for her, but somehow she’d gained a hefty following over the years. No one knew anything about her except that she was 17, lived in North Carolina and wrote (apparently) beautiful poetry and Amelia planned to keep it that way.

Her poetry was like a journal. There was a lot of personal things hidden in the poems that only someone who knew her could find and right now, that was only one person. Her mom.

_And maybe Brynn. One day._

She sighed, hitting the post button. Getting up, she did a quick inventory in her head of things she needed to grab from the storage room before heading out to the back of the bookstore, trusting the old ladies to get her if they needed anything. She walked among the winding bookshelves, humming to herself and smiling happily. The smell of books was always an amazing smell.

She knew the store like the back of her hand so, like an idiot, she closed her eyes. And immediately tripped over a stray book pile. Letting out a little shriek, she squeezed her eyes and waited for impact. None came. Instead, two warm hands caught her and a voice said

“Damn Amelia, you really got to stop hurting yourself around me.” She froze.

_FUCK_

Cracking an eye open, she looked up to see a smirking Brynn. A smirking Brynn who had her arms wrapped around her. A smirking Brynn who had her arms wrapped around her and was currently looking very, very tall. Just Amelia’s type….. _NOPE. STOP. NUH UH. OH HELL. NO._

She let out a squeak and quickly righted herself.

“Thank you! Sorry! Won’t happen again.” she blushed _You know damn well that’s a lie._

Apparently, Brynn could read her mind.

“That’s a lie and you know it. But don’t worry. I enjoy saving pretty people.” Amelia let out another squeak.

“O… Okay! Um I’m just gonna… uh GO!” Amelia immediately facepalmed and took a deep breath. “Ok. Attempt two. Thank you for catching me. I’m gonna go get food from the back.” Brynn chuckled and nodded.

“Do you want any help?” Amelia thought of the bags of flour she’d have to carry.

“Yes please.”

As they made their way to the back room, Amelia’s mind started drifting. She glanced over at Brynn who was currently humming as she looked at the old books lining the maze.

 _God damn is that girl tall._ Amelia stood at 5’3 so granted everyone was tall to her. But still. This girl was like… seven inches taller than her. Why was that so hot??? Amelia was someone who noticed beauty in everything and everyone. Except for assholes. She didn’t think Brynn was an asshole. An asshole wouldn’t slow her pace so that Amelia could keep up.

Amelia was so lost in her head that she didn’t notice the door to the storage room. She almost ran into but an arm stopped her.

“Hey, you okay?” Amelia looked up at Brynn’s face. “You were about to run into the door. Didn’t want you to hurt yourself too much today.” Amelia’s face flushed. Again.

“Yeah. I’m fine. Don’t worry about me! Happens a lot.” _STOP RAMBLING_ cried the voice in her head. She shut up and Brynn giggled.

“Alright. Anyways, what do you need?” Amelia did a quick mental recollection of the list she made. Right. Basic ingredients.

“Flour, sugar, eggs, some spices that I can grab, milk, aaaaand um…” she went through the list again. “Honey. I need honey. There should be a milk carton over there that you can load up.” Brynn nodded as they each grabbed a carton to fill up.

The storage room was not Amelia’s favorite place. It was cold and she didn’t do cold. Well, she was okay with cold. But only if she had three blankets, multiple layers, a book, hot cocoa, and someone to cuddle with. The storage room included none of these things so she always made these runs as quick as possible.

Knowing the storage room like the back of her hand helped a lot. She grabbed the spices she needed and, seeing that Brynn was taking care of the food from the fridge, went for the dry ingredients. Two things of flour, a bag of sugar, a new thing of salt, and baking soda joined the growing carton of baking items. Taking another glance at the spices, she decided to make some chai.

“Can you grab another thing of milk?” Brynn nodded as Amelia grabbed black tea, cardamom, cinnamon, and some other spices. Her carton was now pretty full and quite heavy. She didn’t seem to notice but Brynn did.

“Do you want me to carry that back?” she asked in concern. Her carton was much less full but still heavy. Amelia grinned and shook her head.

“Don’t worry about it. This is nothing.” She hitched the carton on her hip. “Ready to go?” Brynn nodded, hefting her carton up as well.

“Remind me to never get on your bad side.” Amelia laughed at that.

“Don’t worry. I don’t think that’s possible.” Brynn winked at her and she immediately died inside. _Fuck._ Coughing lightly, Amelia made her way back to the kitchen. She set down her carton and went back out to grab the other one from Brynn’s hand.

“Thank you for the help.” Brynn nodded and told her that if she needed anything else, to let her know. Amelia smiled and slipped back into the kitchen.

She put all the ingredients away and decided to start on the chai. Grabbing a big pot from the cabinet next to the stove, she mentally went through the recipe in her head.

Milk, water, black tea, cardamom seeds, ginger, cinnamon, and allspice. All of the items were on the counter and she could already smell the chai as the water simmering.

The stove flickered on after a couple ticks and she poured in the water. While she waited for it to heat up, she sat down and pulled out her notebook.

_I spoke to the man in the moon_

_He asked how you were doing_

 

Amelia sat there for a moment, going over the events of the last hour. She decided to try and describe Brynn as poetically as she could.

 

_ A description of perfection _

_No one is perfect_

_But everyone is perfect to somebody_

_she is perfect to me_

_The sun’s younger sister_

_Freckles dot her skin like constellations_

_In a clear, midnight sky_

_Her voice is like a warm hug_

_On a cold winter day_

_Her presence is a gentle reminder_

_That I will be okay_

_My description of perfection._

Amelia got up to check on the water. It was just starting to simmer. She smiled as she added the milk, tea, and spices. _This bookstore is going to smell so good._

Mixing everything together, she took a deep breath and nodded in satisfaction. The bell at the cash register rung. Amelia turned the burner down and made her way to the front to serve the customer. And then she stopped.

 _Oh fuck no._ A man stood at the front smiling brightly. The old ladies looked at him and then at Amelia with a worried glance. She gave them a tight but reassuring smile before walking up to serve the man.

“Amelia! Lovely to see you.” Internally, she rolled her eyes. On the outside, she just put on her best customer service face.

“Derek! What can I get you?” god she hated this.

“What, no hi? We haven’t seen each other in ages.” Her smile tightened. _There's a reason for that you dick._

“Sorry! I’m still in work mode.” He chuckled and she had to hold back from saying fuck it and running away. “So what can I get you?”

“An Americano, croissant, and..” He winked and Amelia had never felt so disgusted. “Your number.” This time she really rolled her eyes.

“We’ve been over this. I’m gay.” God, she hated this boy. He just. Wouldn’t. Stop.

“You just haven’t found the right man yet.” _This mother fu…._ She saw Brynn walk up behind him and give her a wink. Amelia had to hide a giggle. Poor, 5’4 Derek had no idea there was a giant behind him ready to fight.

“Yo is there a problem?” Derek whipped around, ready to tell whoever was behind him off. Brynn smiled down at him. Literally. _God, I love this woman._

“Nope. I’m just heading out now.” Brynn nodded in satisfaction as he made his hasty exit. Amelia watched with a smile on her face as Brynn let out a low laugh.

“That’s what I thought.” The old ladies at the table nodded approvingly and went back to their gossip session when Amelia had a sudden idea. She makes a ‘one second’ motion to a confused Brynn before disapeering into the kitchen.

Grabbing a cup from the dishwasher, she dried it and took a taste of the chai. Perfect. She ladled a bit of it into the mug before making her way back to the register.

“On the house.” She shook her head as Brynn pulled out her wallet. “As a thank you.” Brynn smiled happily and took a sip.

“Holy shit this is amazing.” Amelia giggled a bit at Brynn’s shocked face. “And so are you. I’m gonna need more of your stuff.” Aaaand theres the blush. Dammit. Attempting to hide her blush, she made some excuse about needing to go back to the kitchen. Brynn gave a chuckle before wandering back to the bookstore portion of the shop.

After she entered the kitchen, Amelia’s back pressed against the cool fridge as she sunk to the ground. Pulling out her phone, she checked the time. 10:00. It was going to be a long day.


	2. Bells Chime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Brynn finds a blog with some poetry and reminds her parents that being gay isn't a phase. Again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm dying inside! (not really but you know ) 
> 
> Enjoy this poorly edited chapter <3 (it's not really read for mistakes and all that and i'm sincerely sorry. if people want to beta, you will have my eternal gratitude and love)

It was a small town which meant that everyone knew each other. At least the locals did. There were some college students that made an effort to integrate into the community. One of them was Brynn. Well. Not really.

She moved into her dorm at the beginning of the summer so she could adjust to the people and get ready to live on her own for the first time. The first thing she did after she moved in was to find her study place. Libraries were never any good because it felt too….. Clinical. Libraries never felt homey or cozy. Her dorm, on the other hand, was too cozy. Whenever she studied there, she’d end up falling asleep.

A cafe felt like the best option. So she found Worldly. A tiny bookstore, hidden in the small town. The place was lovely and the two women who ran it were even lovelier. Her second week there, she learned their names. Amelia and Cecilia.

Brynn soon became a regular at the store and loved it there more and more every day. (It didn’t hurt that Amelia was pretty cute either.)

Smiling as she wandered back into the maze of shelves, chai in hand, Brynn started searching for a book to read. Or, rather, she was searching for Cecilia. The woman had a knack for giving you the exact book you needed at the moment. Brynn off-handly wondered if that knack ran in the family.

“Brynn! How are you?” Brynn had turned the corner to find Cecilia stocking some more books from this month’s ‘haul’.

“I’m doing just fine.” Setting down her chai, she started to help the older woman shelve books. “Do you have any book recommendations for me, by any chance? I’m looking for something new to dive into.”

Cecilia pondered the question for a minute, looking Brynn up and down. The first time she had done this, Brynn thought she was crazy. Now she was used to it. She asked for a recommendation at least twice a week. Cecilia snapped her fingers and pulled a pen out of the ever-growing mass of writing implements that had taken residence in her ever-present bun.

Grabbing Brynn’s hand, the woman wrote something down before smile in satisfaction.

“It not so much an actual book but a blog of poetry that I think you’d enjoy.” Brynn read what was on her arm. _Waxing Poetics._ Huh. Smiling and giving Cecilia a quick hug of thanks, she wandered around to one of the many comfy chairs placed around the shop. After she had gotten adjusted, she pulled out her phone and typed the URL into Google. It took a minute to locate the blog but after she did, she settled in to read.

_Waxing poetics_

_17, NC, She/Her_

 

Brynn grinned. Simplistic and anonymous. She liked this girl already. Hitting the newsletter button, she quickly typed in her email to receive notifications for any new poetry before scrolling down to the newest poem.

 

2 am is both the best and worst time

Because you can be alone

But you also feel quite lonely

 

 _Damn. This is beautiful._ As she began to scroll, Brynn started to get lost in the words of this girl’s poetry. The words painted pictures in her head. Some were about late nights. Others about nature. But one common theme was this girl that the poet was obviously in love with. She made brown eyes sound beautiful and calming. She seemed to find beauty in the simplest things like a pastry or lip gloss.

Brynn kept coming back to the poem about brown eyes. It made her like her eyes for the first time. Most of the time when you read descriptions of brown eyes, they compared them to chocolate or muddy water. This take was refreshing. Two specific lines kept running through her head.

_Like the heavens had taken the stormy sky grey_

_and mixed it with the beautiful dark oak_

She screenshotted the poem and set it as her wallpaper before smiling gently. For some reason, this poet had struck a chord in her. She normally wasn’t a poetry person. Much more of an artist. But for some reason, this poet painted images in her head that she’d never fathomed could be real. The girl she described in one poem seemed almost god-like. The poems about the moon seemed almost like a bittersweet call for this girl to notice.

 _God, how oblivious is the girl she likes?_  Brynn sighed and stretched before curling up even more. She scrolled through the blog for a little while longer before dozing off, the poem about brown eyes still up on her screen and her music still playing softly in her headphones.

 

About two hours later, Brynn slowly woke up. Her neck ached from being so curled up on the chair. Stretching, she noticed the sudden appearance of a blanket covering her and a small plate of macarons on the small table next to her. She reached out to grab one. The taste of raspberries exploded in her mouth as she took a bite. God she loved the taste of raspberries. She slowly stood, yawning along the way.

“God I need to stop falling asleep in chairs. I’m too tall for this bullshit.” She grumbled, grabbing another macaron. Orange chocolate.

She folded up the blanket and packed up her things before eating the last macaron. Heading to the cafe portion of the shop, she smiled when she saw Amelia standing at the register.

“I believe these are yours.” Amelia blushed as she handed over the blanket and plate. “The macarons were delicious, by the way. How much do I owe you?” Amelia shook her head and smiled.

“Nothing. Those were some day-olds we needed to get rid of. I’m glad you liked them.”

“I like anything you make.” Brynn winked and then let out a light laugh as Amelia let out a flustered squeak. “I have to head out. Can you thank your mom for the recommendation?” the other girl gave a quick nod. Brynn slipped a couple dollars in the tip jar before heading out

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” Amelia called out before Brynn made it completely outside. She gave a quick chuckle.

“Of course darling. Where else would I go? You’ve spoiled any other pastry for me.” Amelia stuttered out a thank you as Brynn left the shop.

She checked her phone. It was noon which meant she had time to go grab groceries before she had to facetime her parents and check in with them.

Throwing on her helmet, she climbed on her bike and left the cafe with a smile on her face and something new to read.

 _______________________________

The grocery store was about fifteen minutes away which gave Brynn some time to think. The blog Cecilia recommended to her made her feel a certain way and she couldn’t place her finger on exactly what it was. She never had felt moved by a description of eyes nor did she get such a vivid picture from reading as she had read the girl’s poetry. Brynn gave out a light sigh before pulling into the grocery store parking lot. It was noon on a Monday which meant that the place wasn’t as crowded as it would usually be.

Walking into the shop, Brynn smiled as she realized she was right. It was quite empty which meant that she could get her shopping done quickly and efficiently. Just how she liked it. Grabbing a basket, she took a minute to check her grocery list before making her way around the store. She hadn’t been in the town very long and this was only her second or third trip to the store so it took a bit longer as it usually would because she was still figuring out the store layout. This irritated her.

 _I just wanna get home and curl up in bed._ Thunder cracked outside and Brynn rolled her eyes. _Dammit._ She sighed and walked up to one of the cash registers.

“Hi, there! Did you find everything you were looking for?” the man looked up. “Oh. You.” Brynn internally groaned. It was the dude from the cafe that was hitting on Amelia. The one thing that irritated her more than taking a long time was idiots who couldn’t take no for an answer.

She considered giving him a hard time but she was still drowsy from her nap and didn’t feel like starting drama. So she ignored the comment.

“Yo. Yeah, I found everything just fine. Could I get paper?” The dude looks a little irritated. Like he wanted to pick a fight with her. Brynn couldn’t find it in herself to care. At all. Her phone dings as she gets a notification. The poet had just posted something. Smiling to herself, she put the phone in her pocket and helped him bag groceries.

 _I’ll read it when I get home._ She made a small nod as she paid for everything before heading out to her motorcycle. Putting the bags into the storage spot in the back, she hopped on and drove back to the dorms. After getting to her room and putting everything away, Brynn fell on her bed with a sigh. She checked her phone. The notification was still on her screen. Smiling, she tapped it and read the latest part.

_No one should look_

_Like a princess_

_While taking a nap_

_Except for a princess_

Brynn gave a small snort. _Accurate._ She jumped a little back as her phone rang. Her mother’s caller id popped up on the screen and she let out a small screen. There was a reason she left home earlier than she had to. Brynn pressed answer and leaned against the backboard.

“Hi, mom.” God she really didn’t want to talk to her right now.

“Hello, darling. How have you been settling in?” her mom’s voice sounded tight. Like she wasn’t enjoying this talk either.

“Just fine. Don’t worry.” She paused, contemplating what to say next. She decided to broach the subject her mother seemed to want to avoid.

“Where’s dad? Doesn’t he want to know how I’m doing?” her mother’s voice grew tighter. If that was even possible.

“Now Brynn. You know he still doesn’t agree with your… lifestyle.” _Not that you do either._ Brynn rolled her eyes. “Are you sure this isn’t just a phase? That you just haven’t found the right man yet?”

Brynn’s hands dragged down her face in exasperation. They’d had this talk like fifty times before she’d had enough at home and moved. Of course, they weren’t going to let the subject go that easily though.

“Mom. It’s not a phase. I’m never going to find the right man because I Don’t. Like. Men.” She took a deep breath. “And if all this call is going to be is you trying to convince me that who I am is not okay, then I’m just going to hang up because I have other, more pressing matters to attend to.” Her mom stuttered for a second.

“That’s what I thought. We can have this conversation later. When I’m not as worn out. Bye, mom. Tell dad I said hi. I don’t know appreciated an I love you would be, but I still love you.” With that, Brynn hit the end call button.

It took a minute for what she had done. Apparently, it took a minute for it to set in with her mom too. First, she started to get phone calls. She ignored those. And then texts. She ignored those too. After about a minute, she put her phone on do not disturb.

 _What’s done is done. It’s not like she can do much from across the country._ Brynn thought as she put on some music. _And anyway, it’s dinner time.”_

Her stomach grumbled in response to this which made her realize she hadn’t actually had a real meal all day. Stretching as she stood up, Brynn made her way to the microwave. She was lucky enough to have the dorm to herself so in place of the second dorm bed was a mini kitchen with a microwave, mini-fridge and a little table for counter space.

 _I really don’t feel like making anything fancy. Ramen it is._ Brynn pulled out some of said ramen from the little bin under the table and put it in a bowl with some water before shoving it in the microwave. After starting the microwave, she sat down at her desk and went over her to-do list, checking things off.

 _Fuck I need to register for classes._ She pulled out her laptop and set it up. The microwave timer went off. A crack of lightning went through the air, making her jump. A roll of thunder and louder rain followed. Grabbing the ramen out of the microwave and curling back up at her desk chair, she grumbled aloud.

“God I really hate thunderstorms.” She set the ramen next to her laptop to cool and started looking through classes.

A little while later, Brynn looked at the clock on her computer. 9:00. She sighed and stood up, cracking her back. Her bowl of ramen sat empty and she could feel the events of the mildly eventful day catching up to her. She sighed and checked her phone for the first time since putting it on ‘do not disturb’. No new poems but there was at least twenty texts from her mother and eight missed calls.

“And you wonder why I left home a week after coming out to you guys.” Brynn rolled her eyes and let out a long sigh. Today was tiring.

She changed into sweats and an old t-shirt before crashing on her bed, eyes closing as soon as they hit the pillow.


	3. And I wonder how anyone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which everything feels like a studio ghibli movie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm so sorry for not updating regularly. My life is a disorganized mess at the moment. ANyways, this is one of my favorite chapters. I'd recommend listening to a Studio Ghibli soundtrack or some Lo-Fi to get the full effect.
> 
> Love you! Thank you for reading!

The thunder rumbled across the sky as Amelia sat in her bed, unable to sleep. Not like that was a rare occurrence at all. It was common to find her up at three am, post-it notes, and pens scattered around her. Her blonde hair would either be tied up in the same fashion as her mother’s, with pens and pencils poking out of it, or falling across her shoulders, and she’d usually either be scribbling something with her tongue sticking out of her mouth in concentration or staring out the attic’s sky light as if in a whole other world.

It was a very messy yet poetic picture if you think about it. But that pretty much described Amelia. Messy yet poetic.

Tonight, was no different than other nights. She stared up through her sky-light, going over the events of today, remembering the image of Brynn. Curled up in a chair too small for her to be comfortable in, asleep. She still looked like a princess somehow. Her bun had slowly come apart, pieces of long, curly, midnight black hair falling over her face and she looked like she was smiling. It was honestly rude of her to look that beautiful.

Amelia, of course, had blushed at the sight of Brynn looking so at peace with the world. She had gone to the back to grab a blanket from the pile that she and her mother had acquired through the years and went back to cover Brynn, grabbing some macarons along the way.

_One of these days, I’ll stop blushing when I think about her._ Amelia pressed her hands to her face, cooling the on-coming flush of red that seemed to be ever-present since Brynn had started becoming a regular at the shop. This woman was going to be the death of her.

Sighing, Amelia stretched. Deciding that nothing was going to get done that night, she got up to make herself a cup of tea. She took a step and promptly tripped over another pile of clothes.

“Ouch! Dammit! Second time today.” She glared at her floor as if it was the problem. Grumbling and rubbing her elbow, she slowly made her way to the door. About ten minutes of careful steps later, she finally made it to the kitchen and started to make a cup of tea.

Of course, in this house, they couldn’t just have like, you know, five boxes of teas to choose from. No. They had twenty-three. Amelia had counted at one point when she had gotten really bored.

She dug around and produced a box of ‘sleepy tea’ because she couldn’t stand chamomile and most of the other teas had caffeine or would wake her up. Amelia put the kettle on and the tea bag in the cup before hoisting herself on to the counter to wait for the water to boil. She hummed as the rain poured against the window. The occasional strike of lightning lit up the room followed by the low roll of thunder. Amelia’s legs gently swung as she leaned her head back against the cabinet. She smiled gently. The scene looked like something out of a Ghibli movie and that’s exactly how she liked it.

The kettle started to whistle, and Amelia jumped down to turn it off before it got too loud. She’d hate to wake her mother. Humming gently as she poured the hot water into the mug, she grabbed a spoon from the drawer next to her and stirred the tea. She did this for a minute or two as she stared out the window at the pouring rain, her eyes slowly losing focus as she fell into the rhythm of stirring the tea. The rain was comforting, and the occasional thunder felt like a low chuckle from the heavens.

Amelia shook herself a little bit and pulled the tea bag from the mug, dumping it in the trash. She made her way upstairs at set her mug on the desk next to her bed before clearing it off. Grabbing the poetry book her mom had given her that morning, she settled in and cracked it open.

Not too long after, about an hour or so, the tea cup was empty, and the book rested open gently on her tummy as Amelia fell asleep. The rain had fallen into a gentle patter across her sky-light and the thunder rolled across the sky every once in a while. There was a smile across her face.

 

The alarm chimed at exactly 4:45 a.m. No one in the house stirred. The rising crescendo of bells reached its loudest around 5:00. A phone was thrown across the room and then a bang was heard as the phone hit the wall.

“Fucker.” Amelia climbed out of bed to go and check if the phone was okay. She assumed it was because the alarm was still going. But you could never be certain. Picking up the phone, she let out a long, low string of curses. A long crack ran along the left side of the screen, webbing a bit at the top and bottom.

As opposed to the poetic scene of the night before, today seemed to be a mess for reality. Her room was a mess with stationary and office supplies strewn across the ground, intermingling with the piles of clothes. Her hair seemed to have a mind of its own, having created a pretty impressive tangled birds nest that was going to require some major brushing. Mascara that she’d forgotten to take off the night before was smeared below her eyes, giving her the effect of baggier eyes than she’d already had.

Sighing, Amelia took off her pjs and threw them in the hamper. She picked up some clothes from off the floor that seemed clean enough. After she’d gotten dressed, she threw all the clothes on the ground in the hamper and stacked the writing things on the desk. Her room was still a mess, but at least you could see the floor now.

Promising herself to _really_ clean over the weekend, she took the full hamper down to the laundry room on the ground floor and threw in a load before heading to the kitchen.

“Morning mom.” Cecilia looked up from buttering the toast in front of her.

“Morning sweetheart. Could you make the coffee? I’m almost done with breakfast.” Amelia nodded and set to work boiling water and measuring out the coffee beans.

As the water was heating up, Amelia sat down at the kitchen table across from her mom who had set out the two plates of eggs, bacon, and toast.

“No poetry?” Her mother questioned as they started eating. The kettle starting whistling in the background.

“Nah. I wish, but it just ended up not coming to me.” Amelia got up to turn off the kettle and make the coffee. Her mother nodded wisely.

“Sometimes it’s just like that. Don’t worry darling.” She smiled as she set a cup of coffee in front of her mother and then sat down with her own cup, taking a deep sip.

“Thanks, but I’m not too worried. I wrote enough yesterday.” Cecilia sent a smirk her way as she got up to put her plate in the sink.

“Alright. Well, I’m going to go brush. Meet you in the car.” Amelia gave her mom a nod as the older woman headed upstairs.

Finishing up about five minutes later, Amelia’s plate joined her mothers in the sink as she headed upstairs to brush.

 

* * *

The store’s day started out pretty slow. It left Amelia with enough time to experiment with a new Key Lime pie recipe she’d found. She was on a mission to find the best recipe and so far, everyone she’d made came out tasting like play-doh.

Just after the pie went in the fridge, the store’s door chime went off. Amelia went to the front to see who it was.

Brynn stood there, her hair a frizzy mess and she had some bags under her eyes. She seemed worn and exhausted. Amelia started to worry. Not to mention that it was ten o’clock. A little over an hour later than her usual time.

“Hey! How are you doing? Everything okay?” Brynn shot her a tired but thankful smile.

“Ah... I’m fine, don’t worry. Could I just get my usual?” Amelia gave her a look that plainly said she didn’t believe a word of that sentence, but she didn’t push it.

“Alright love. Let me just warm up some coffee in the kitchen.” Brynn gave her a small nod and with that, Amelia headed to the back. True to her word, she did start to make some coffee, but she also put chocolate chip cookie in the warming oven.

Amelia made normal chocolate chip cookies, but she also had some special ones for when she knew a customer had been having a bad day. They had small slips of paper with quotes or words of encouragement or, occasionally, a small, uplifting poem. Those were rare though. Maybe one in every fifty.

After the coffee was made and the cookie was warmed, she pushed her way out of the kitchen and back to where Brynn was patiently waiting. Brynn eyed the cookie suspiciously.

“A cookie isn’t part of my regular order.” Amelia smiled brightly

“It’s my special ‘it will get better’ cookie. On the house” The taller woman looked like she was about to protest. “Ah ah ah! Shush. Before you say anything, I do this for anyone who looks like they’ve been having a bad day. Everyone in this cafe has gotten this cookie before. You can ask them.” Brynn gave her a soft smile and a look of thanks. Amelia smiled triumphantly.

“Now, when eating the cookie, be careful. There’s a surprise buried in it.” She gave the woman a conspiratoal wink. Taking the credit card Brynn handed her, she swiped it and then made a shooing motion at the woman.

“Go find my mom and ask for a book and a blanket and go curl up on a chair. I forbid you from doing anything productive. Go relax.” Brynn let out a small laugh and nodded, heading over to the bookshop to do exactly that.

After she left, Amelia sighed and rested her chin on her hand. She wanted to find out what happened and make it all better. But that’s not how it worked. She couldn’t just wave her hand and make it all better, as much as she wanted to.

The doorbell rang again, and she got back to work.

 

About two hours later, Cecilia took over the register for a bit to give Amelia a break. But before the girl could leave, her mother whispered in her ear.

“Brynn’s asleep on the chair again. Would you mind making sure she’s okay? You can leave the shop if you need to.” Amelia smiled at her mom and nodded. Part of the women’s charm was that they really did care for their customers. If it looked like one of them was having a bad day, they always made sure that the person was doing okay and was comfortable before moving on to the next person.

Wandering around the maze of books, Amelia kept an eye out for Brynn. She found her curled up in the chair towards the very back of the shop. The chair was easy to miss if you weren’t looking for it and it was located in an alcove surrounded by books. It was dark and the perfect place to wallow or take a nap. Amelia had spent plenty of days in that chair.

_“Poor Brynn.”_ The other woman was curled up in to the tiniest ball she could, which was pretty tiny considering her size. She looked helpless and tired. Amelia gently shook her.

“Brynn? Hey. You sure you’re okay? This is the second time in a row you’ve fallen asleep in our shop in the last two days.” Brynn slowly raised her head and blinked the sleep out of her eyes.

“Hmm? What- what time is it?”

“It’s noon. You’ve been sleeping for maybe an hour and a half or so.” Brynn sat up and stretched - only to be stopped by Amelia. “Careful darling. You’re in the alcove. If I can touch the ceiling with my arm bent, you’ll surely hit your head.” Brynn nodded again, still half asleep. Amelia helped her out of the chair and into the maze before wrapping the blanket around her shoulders.

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk? You seem really worn out and my mom and I are both a little worried.” Brynn stiffened a bit and Amelia backtracked. “It’s okay. You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to. Just know that we’re here for you.”

Amelia led her to the couch at the end of the row of books and they sat down together.

After a minute or two of comfortable silence, Brynn turned to Amelia.

“Can… Can I have a hug?” Amelia froze. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to I just...”

Amelia cut her off, pulling her in and wrapping her arms around the waist of the woman. Brynn’s face became buried in her neck and Amelia realized with a little gasp that there were tiny shudders coming from the woman. She started to rub her back.

“What happened, Brynn?” She left no room for argument because there was obviously something wrong and she now needed to know. A small sob emitted from Brynn’s lips. Something in her chest tightened.

“Why...” Amelia wouldn’t have heard the word if she hadn’t been listening closely. “Why won’t they accept me?” This confused Amelia.

“Who?” Another shudder ran through Brynn’s body.

“My parents. I came out to them about a month ago and I had to leave home early because it felt awful.”

_I swear to god if they laid a fucking hand on her-_ her train of thought was interrupted by another shudder as Brynn pulled her closer.

“Did they do anything to you?” Brynn’s head shook against her neck, giving her a soft no.

“Dad stopped talking to me and mom is convinced I just need a man. I left after I heard them talking about arranging a marriage for me. They don’t know I heard them though.” Amelia was gonna scream. Who the hell does this kind of bullshit?

She took a deep breath and gave Brynn one last, tight squeeze before extracting herself to look the woman in the eye.

Well, she tried to. Brynn was looking down and avoiding her eyes. Amelia took a steeling breath and did something she decided she would most likely totally and completely regret later. She reached down and brought Brynn’s face level with hers. Her hands rested on either side of the woman’s face and Amelia fought back a major blush.

_NOT THE TIME._

“Okay. First of all, I’m so sorry. That’s awful and no one should go through it. You are extremely strong and an amazing woman.” Brynn attempted to look away. “No. Look at me. You need to hear this. What your parents are doing sucks and it’s awful. Maybe they’ll grow up and learn, maybe they won’t.”

_Fuck. She looks like she’s about to cry._

“BUT. But. But, you have me now. And my mother. And this bookshop. And the regular old ladies who would smother you if given a chance. You have a new family and we accept you. What you did was extremely brave, and we are so proud of you.” Brynn gave her a small nod and Amelia removed her hands from her face.

Amelia had one more thing to say though. She stuck out her hand.

“Hi. I’m Amelia. A mess of a pansexual. I bake for my mom’s shop and, when I came out to the old ladies, they made me sit down for an hour to explain exactly what pan was and how it was different from the other sexualities. They are now grandmothers to, like, twenty kids who weren’t accepted by their families. When the school year starts, this cafe will be flooded with kids of all ages and all ends of the spectrum. This place becomes gayer every year.”

Brynn let out a small laugh and Amelia smiled triumphantly. Brynn grabbed her hand and they shook before Amelia pulled her up. Brynn let out another laugh, this one in surprise. No one really expected Amelia to be as strong as she was, but after years of lifting stacks and boxes of books and now bags of flour, she now had some pretty good muscle.

“C’mon. I’m gonna show you all my favorite places close by.”

“Wait… don’t you have to work?” Amelia shook her head.

“Mom gave me a couple hours off. We wanted to make sure you were alright. I told you, we’re your family now.” Brynn conceded with a soft smile and a nod. Amelia led the way through the winding bookshelves and into the cafe. She made Brynn sit at a table.

“Wait here for a sec. Strike up a conversation with the old ladies. They’ll love you. Trust me.” Brynn gave another nod of affirmation and Amelia headed to the kitchen, stopping at the register to give her mom a heads up.

“Hey, I’m gonna take Brynn on my tour of the town. I’ll be back by three?” Cecilia kissed the top of her head.

“Go darling. Have fun.” Amelia gave her a smile before going into the kitchen and making them each a chai latte. She had some leftover in the fridge and poured some into two to-go cups. Dropping one or two ice cubes in, she made her way back to the front and smiled. Brynn had migrated over to the table with the old ladies who were currently, of course, smothering her. She approached the table just as Beth reached for Brynn’s cheeks

“Beth!” Amelia started “I thought my cheeks were the only ones you pinched!” the table laughed as Amelia set the iced chai in front of Brynn.

“Oh Amelia, sweetheart, I hate to break it to you, but I’ve pinched many children’s cheeks.” Amelia made a fake pouty face before breaking out laughing with the rest of the table.

“If you lovely ladies don’t mind, I’m going to steal Brynn. I promised her a tour of the town.” She helped Brynn up and the group of ladies suddenly started shooing them out. Amelia rolled her eyes and followed the other woman out of the shop. She turned around to wave bye to everyone and just rolled her eyes as all the women in the shop winked almost simultaneously.

 

“I love those guys but god they’re extra.” She and Brynn made their way down the street. The taller woman let out a soft chuckle and took another sip of the chai. Little puddles from last night’s rain were scattered across the ground and Amelia took great pleasure in making sure she stepped in each one. It was sunny out which was a definite contrast from the night before. It was perfect for exploring, though, so Amelia allowed it.

“Alright. First stop.” She stepped in front of an old, Victorian building. “Welcome to the haunted house of Chapel Hill. Don’t worry. It’s not actually haunted. Just abandoned.”

“And that supposed to make me feel better because?” Brynn was eyeing the house warily.

“Oh! Because it’s not really abandoned. I’ve been using it for about three years now as a hideaway. It’s pretty stable and I’m pretty sure the entire town thinks it’s haunted. The only other person who know I go here is my mom.” Brynn nodded, not entirely satisfied but followed Amelia inside anyways.

Amelia hummed as she made her way up to the top floor, Brynn following behind as close as possible. Once they made it to the second floor, she turned left and went into the first room she saw.

The room was small. About the size of Amelia’s own room. During her time there, she had slowly brought in pillows, blankets, candles, and some other random little things. Unlike her room, it was organized. The pillows and blankets were in milk crates, so they didn’t get moldy and there were stacks of books and writing utensils on top. The candles were located around the room in seemingly random patterns. A small window overlooked the street below. It was the only source of light in the otherwise darkened room.

Amelia busied herself with lighting all the candles after asking Brynn to lay out the blankets and pillows. After the candles had been lit and Brynn finished covering the floor, Amelia shut the blinds on the window. The room was lit with the orang-y glow of the candles. She turned to Brynn.

“I lied. We’re not going to tour the town.” She sighed and produced a little speaker form her backpack. “A couple years ago, after mom started the business, I went into a pretty bad depression. A lot of the time I didn’t want to be at home and I was constantly helping people at the shop. So, I decided to find a place that was only mine.” She hooked the speaker up to her phone and started to play a song. A slow rhythm started to play, and Amelia smiled as she settled in to the cushiony floor.

“I found this place and decided to make it my own. It’s a great place to come and relax. You’re welcome any time.” Brynn smiled, joining Amelia on the floor.

“Now grab a book. Let’s just curl up and read for a bit.”

And so, they did.


	4. Can live so beautifully

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Brynn is whipped for a certain poet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi!!! I'm sosososo sorry I've been so crappy at uploading. I wish I could say I have an excuse but I don't really. Is clinical procrastination a thing? Cause I think I have it. I swear I have a schedule now. Expect updates every Wednesday!!

Brynn was sleepy. Again. It was a common occurrence by now so it didn’t bother her too much. It was only 2:30 in the afternoon but it felt like night in the small room. The candles and soft music in the background didn’t help much but it felt like home.

Home. That word is such a loaded word. You could never really give home the perfect definition, could you? But this. This kind of felt like home. Brynn smiled. She hadn’t really been able to call anyone specific place home for a while. It felt nice. She curled up deeper into the pile of blankets and flipped to the next page of the book she was reading. A couple of feet away, next to her Amelia’s pencil continued to scratch against the notebook she was holding. It hadn’t stopped for the last half hour or so but Brynn found she didn’t mind it. The room felt comfy and that was just the way she liked it.

Sadly though, she had to break the moment.

“Hey.” Amelia nodded distractedly, still scribbling. “Amelia, hey. We need to get going. You have to be at the shop by three and I have some errands to run.” She really didn’t but she did want to explore a bit. Amelia groaned as she stood up to stretch.

“Alright. Fineeee. If we have to.” Brynn smiled as they packed up the blankets and blew out the candles. Once the final candle was out and Amelia’s speaker in her bag, they made their way downstairs and outside.

“Remember, if you ever need somewhere to be alone, you can always come here.” Brynn gave her a smile as they made their way back to the shop.

Once they had gotten back, Brynn gave her a hug goodbye and another one to Cecilia, making sure to thank them both for everything.

“Your support means the world to me. Thank you.” They smiled and gave her another, huge hug. Good god. For such small size, you’d think that they wouldn’t be as strong but Brynn would be lying if she said her spine didn’t pop a bit at the force.

Waving one last goodbye to everyone, Brynn put in her earbuds and started to make her way down the street. She smiled. The day had ended up turning out a lot better than she thought it would. It felt nice to know that she had support here and wasn’t all alone.

She makes a quick decision to walk back to her dorm to re-group and figure out to do with the rest of the day. It wasn’t a long walk - she had done it that very morning - and it was nice out.

Humming along to the song that was playing, she made her way back to the dorms and up to her room. The lock clicked as she swiped her card and she made her way in to the small room.

Her phone dinged as soon as she took off her shoes. Glancing at the notification, she bounced on to the bed and quickly typed in her passcode. A new poem had been posted.

_Hiding places are best_

_When in the most obvious locations_

_Like how I hid my heart_

_On my sleeve_

_No one REALLY sees it there_

Damn. For some reason, this poem made her think. A lot of people hid a lot of things in plain sight. Pain, depression, anger for a few. Hell, her coming out could have been seen from a mile away. Amelia didn’t even act suprised when she said she came out to her parents.

_Then again. She did say she was pan. Maybe she just figured? Whatever._ It didn’t really matter why she wasn’t. Just that she accepted Brynn and no one in the shop treated her any differently. Well. The old ladies did. But in a ‘yes. This one is ours now.’ Sort of way. That made her smile even more. It felt nice to feel welcome and safe somewhere.

_Now then… What to do._ Brynn looked around the room, deciding what she should do for the rest of the day. Her eyes landed on her camera. She hadn’t really touched it in the last week or so.

_Might as well. Got nothing else to do._ She got up and grabbed the camera, before packing a small bag for an adventure. Deciding to have a picnic for dinner somewhere, she grabbed a blanket and her wallet and decided to stop at the grocery store before getting too deep into her photography.

Pressing play on her music, she made her way out of the dorms and back outside. Her camera was slung around her neck and her backpack was on her back. It was still nice out and the sun beat down on her face. It felt lovely out.

She made her was down the street and to the grocery store she’d been at the day before. Once she made it there, about a five minute walk, she made her way quickly through, grabbing some things for a simple dinner. She paid and walked outside before looking up and down the side walk, deciding which way to go. She flipped a coin. Left.

She walked down the street until she got to another cross-roads. The coin was flipped. She turned right.

It became a game. Every time she got to a cross-road, she flipped a coin until she reached a small park. It wasn’t much. A little playground and a pond with a path dividing the two. There were some toddlers and parents on the playground and Brynn smiled as she made her way down the path.

It led to a small forest. Brynn let out a small laugh. Everything in this town was small. It was like a little town full of magic from any fictional book. She wouldn’t have been suprised if she found a fairy or two while she was exploring the woods.

As she entered the woods, she immidetly found the perfect spot to take a photo. There was a stream leading from the pond to who knows where winding through the forest. Brynn set down her bags and made a little scene.

Inspired by the fairy thought she’d had, she set up little stepping stones leading up to the stream and a tiny bridge made out of twigs across it, as if a fairy lived not to far away and needed a way to cross the stream.

Getting on the ground, Brynn brought the camera to her eye, lining up the shot so she was looking across the bridge she’d made. She snapped a couple of shots and contiued on her way.

Through out the small photoshoot in the forest, a theme emerged. Fairies. Every shot she took had some little hint that a fairy might live there. It was amazing.

She finished up her last shot. Looking up a tree and in the edge, you could see a small door sitting there. Brynn thought it came out quite nice.

She put back on her backpack and wandered back out of the forest. It was around five now and Brynn decided it was time for dinner. She walked back to the pond she’d seen coming in earlier and spread her blanket out on the ground before sitting on it and pulling out the food she’d bought earlier and the book she’d packed.

With the book opened and the food spread in front of her, Brynn read, occasionally grabbing from random little food containers and snacking.

Once the food was gone and the book was finished, she packed everything up and headed back home. Content with how the day had turned out, she hummed and there was a bit of a hop in her step. Now it was time to do some physical self care.

Getting back into her room, she put away her stuff before grabbing her pjs, towel, and shower caddy and made her way to the showers.

Humming as she put on the shower cap and flip flops, she turned on the shower. Her towel hung on the stall’s hook, covering all her clothes. Her shower took about five minutes. Most of her self care came after the shower. Drying herself off and putting on her fluffy pjs, she made her way back to the room.

She put on lotion and a face mask before pulling out her computer and flopping on her bed. Netflix was pulled up and she pulled up the newest tv show whe was watching.

* * *

 

Brynn woke up the next morning in a bit of an odd state. She didn’t feel groggy, per se, but more… slow. Like you could throw a book at her and she’d raise her hand to catch it after it hit her.

_“I need coffee.”_ She checked her clock. 5:30. Rubbing her face, she climbed out of bed and got dressed. The was no reason to try and go back to sleep. She knew she wouldn’t be able to.

_“At least I’ll be able to see the sunrise.”_ The thought made her smile. Watching the sunrise was her favorite thing to do. It was like a reset. Everything could change in that one day. Brynn decided to go for a jog. That way, she’d be able to be outside to see it.

Grateful it was summer and therefore not that cold out, she slipped on her running shoes before making her way down to the grounds of the college. She smiled and stretched in front of the building and put in an earbud.

Jogging along the path that weaved through campus, she took a deep breath. It was still dark and no one else was on campus. It was just her, the trees, and the sky.

Small slivers of light slipped through the sky and it slowly turned from a midnight blue to indigo. Brynn stopped and sat down. No one else was out so she had no problem just sitting in the middle of the sidewalk.

It felt like the perfect candid picture. The rainbow of light in the sky which brought your attention to the slowly rising sun. The single person sitting in the middle of the road, watching it. It was like the ending scene of a romantic drama. A laugh escaped Brynn’s mouth.

“ _Yeah right. Life isn’t a movie.”_ She sat there a bit longer, one earbud in, watching the sunrise. At six o’clock, she got up, turned around, and headed back to the dorms.

 

It was still early but Brynn decided to head down to the shop and see if anyone was there. Right before she left, her phone dinged. A new poem had arrived.

“ _Well... I’ll leave after this poem.”_ She opened her phone and sat down to read.

 

_Love is my least favorite emotion_

_Only because it’s hard to find someone who will return it as_

_Vicariously as I give it for_

_Eternity._

“Well shit.” It took a minute for Brynn to process what it meant to her. Shaking her head a bit, she stood up and grabbed her bag before heading out to make her daily walk to the shop.

She did indeed get to the shop early. She could hear the two women inside and debated whether it was a good idea to knock or not.

She knocked.

Cecilia came to the door and when she saw Brynn, she smiled and opened it up instantly.

“Brynn! Darling! We’re not even open yet. Is everything okay?” Brynn rocked back and forth, sending a small, nervous smile at the woman.

“Yeah. Yeah, nothing’s wrong. Just got up really early and wanted to see if you two wanted any help.” Cecilia’s grin got even wider.

“As a matter of fact, there is!” she turned into the shop. “Amelia! Front and center!” a chuckle was heard in the shop and footsteps made their way to the door quickly.

“Mom! What’s up?” she paused when she saw Brynn. “Hey. What are you doing here so early? Everything okay?" Brynn nodded again. Wow, these guys really did care for her.

“Yeah I’m fine, don’t worry.” Amelia gave her a bright, sunny smile. If brynn had been feeling bad earlier, that smile would’ve made her day. Cecilia turned to her daughter.

“Brynn’s offered to give some help if we need it so,” She turned back to Brynn “If you don’t mind, Amelia’s about to make a run to the grocery store and I’d feel better if you accompanyed her.” Brynn agreed instantly but Amelia let out a protest.

“Mom! I can go to the store myself! I’ll be fine!” her mom glared at her but there was no malice behind it.

“Oh no, you don’t. I heard from the Grandmothers about that boy Derek and I know for a fact that he’s a grocer there and takes the morning shifts whenever you go.” Brynn’s eyes narrowed. Cecilia wasn’t done though. “Not to mention, last time you went alone, you forgot the list and, instead of texting me for it, you just got baking ingridents and candy!” Brynn laughed as Amelia floundered.

“It was only on-”

“Nope.”

“But mom I’m-”

“Don’t care.”

“I can handle Der-”

“Don’t even finish that sentence. Brynn’s going with you. Final.” Amelia sighed in defeat and at this point, Bryn was full on losing it. She wrapped her arm around Amelia.

“C’mon, short stuff. Let’s go get those groceries.” The shorter woman let out an indingnet squeak.

“I am not short!”

“I’m literally looking down to talk to you.” Amelia narrowed her eyes and stuck her tounge out at Brynn. Both she and Cecilia laughed at the young woman.

“I just can’t win.” Amelia muttered.

“Nope!” the two other women said at the same time. Amelia rolled her eyes and dragged Brynn to the car. They waved bye to Cecilia and Amelia started the engine.

 

The drive to the store was quiet. Brynn put on the radio when they started driving and some pop song that neither of them cared for played in the background. It wasn’t awkward. In fact, it felt nice. Brynn broke the silence.

“So… derek. He works at the store.” Amelia rolled her eyes.

“Don’t even get me started on that dude. He’s been trying to date me since freshman year and it got worse after I came out.” Brynn glared at the road. She really liked this dude less and less with each word.

“Jesus. How do you stand him?” the other woman let out a little laugh.

“I don’t really. I can stand him for short periods of time but anything longer than ten minutes, and I need to scream.”

“Oof.”

“Mostly take it out on a boxing bag at the gym on the weekends.” Brynn shrugged. Sounded fair enough. She knew that if it were her dealing with that, she probably wouldn’t have handled it as well. She’s too done with peoples bullshit.

“If you ever need any help or anything, let me know.” Amelia laughed again.

“My mom had you come with me because I’ll be interacting with him. It’s a… protective measure.” Brynn couldn’t help but laugh either.

“Protective for who, exactly?” amelia thought for a second.

“Both of us, I guess.”

_“Fair assesment.”_ Brynn shrugged and with that, the rest of the ride was silent. 

Amelia pulled in to the parking lot of the grocery store. They got out and Brynn grabbed the bags out of the back seats. They headed inside and Brynn looked at the list Cecilia handed her daughter.

“All right. So I’ll split this list in half. You can take one part and I’ll take the other and we can meet at the register. Sound good?” she looked up. Amelia was gone. “Amelia? Where’d you go?” she started searching the isles for the girl.

“Good lord. We’ve been here for not even a minute and I’ve already lost her.” Five isles down, sitting in the direct middle of the walkway, Amelia was staring up at the numerous amount of the baking supplies. Brynn busted out laughing.

“Of course. We’ve been here for five minutes. Jesus girl.” She rolled her eyes and helped the other girl up. “We’re going to have to do this trip together.”

Amelia looked indignent.

“I am not a child! We don’t need to this together! I know how to shop!” she pouted and crossed her arms.

“Not a child?” brynn let out a laugh. “It’s been five minutes and you’ve already gotten lost! Not to mention, you literally are pouting. Like a child.” Amelia threw her hands up in the air.

“Fineeeeeeeeeeeeee. I hate that you have a point.” Brynn grabbed her hand and took a look at the list.  Amelia let out a little squeak and looked down at their hands in mild astonishment.

As they walked up and down the isles, they pulled things off the shelves and put them in the ever-growing mountain of food in the cart.  It took longer than it would have if Brynn was doing it alone because she had to pull Amelia away from different candies and other sweets that they found on their little adventure, but Brynn found that she didn’t mind. The joy that radiated off the smaller girl made her laugh. She had a little skip in her step and just eminated happiness and love.

The entire world seemed to smile at Amelia and she smiled back. It made Brynn feel like nothing could go wrong.

They made it to the end of the shopping list and walked to the only register. Brynn had to laugh a little bit. The town was so small, that there were three registers and only one was open. Then she groaned. The only register was being run by Derek. She turned to Amelia.

“Listen. I’m just going to do all the talking. If he tries to ask you out, I’ll just…. Act like we’re dating? Is that okay?” Amelia let out another squeak and Brynn was quick to correct herself. “We don’t have to though!”

“No! Nah! Don’t worry about it! That sounds like a good plan for now.” Brynn gave her a quick nod and with that, they went up to the register.

“Hi! Did you find everything you were looking for?” he looked up. “Oh! Hi, Amelia! How are you doing?” He pointedly ignored Brynn and kept talking to Amelia. The two of them exchanged glances. Amelia sighed and gave a small shrug of her shoulders. She turned back to Derek and gave him a fake, but blinding smile.

“I’m doing… good. How are -” Derek inturrupted.

“That’s great. That’s great. Anyways, do you want to go get coffee this weekend?” damn. This dude really doesn’t give up. At all. Brynn clenched her fists. Amelia put her hand over Brynn’s to calm her down a bit and gave Derek another, very fake smile.

“Nope! I’m with my girlfriend, but thank you for the offer” she held up the interwined hands for the man to see. He froze for a second before nodding and Amelia smiled so brightly, for a second, Brynn wished they weren’t lying.

Derek silently bagged the rest of the groceries and Amelia paid for them. Giving her a peck on the cheek for good measure, Brynn picked up as many bags as she could. Amelia grabbed the last of them and they headed out of the store.

After they got back in the car and put the groceries in the trunk, they collapsed in the front seat and laughed.

“God, for a second I didn’t think we were going to be able to pull that off.” Amelia wiped a tear away and Brynn nodded, laughing along with the shorter girl.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter!!! Please don't be afraid to leave a comment!


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